Tsubame is a symbol of a new beginning. Headed by Chef Jay and his team of talented staff. Growing up in a rural village without the basic essentials such as clean running water and refrigeration, Chef Jay would go to the market every morning for food and daily essentials and the process would repeat every single day. It is this style of living that made Jay to have a strong appreciation for fresh ingredients.
As an third generation Chef / Restauranteur, his father first exposed him to the culinary world at the early age of 12 where he started to learn basic cooking techniques such as grilling, frying, steaming, pickling and broth making. Jay started working as an line cook at the age of 16 everyday after school where to started to hone is knife skills and develop an palate for fine food.
Chef Jay partnered to opened his first Japanese restaurant in 2011 where he learned various Japanese cooking techniques working with the older chefs throughout various stations including kitchen and sushi bar. A few years later, he started to explore the world of fine dining by working at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. In 2016, Chef Jay relocated to New York and opened the first Omakase in Queens known as Gaijin and few years later rebranded as Koyo to focus on his Kaiseki Inspired Omakase concept. After years of careful planning, Chef Jay launched his new location known as Tsubame in the November of 2023 with a strong focus on hyper seasonal Kaiseki inspired Omakase menu.
The name Tsubame, paying homage to Chef Jay’s village bird, the barn swallow. Every year, the swallow would make nests at the village’s home to signal spring is here and during winter, they would leave and migrate south to signal winter is coming. At Tsubame, we have a strong focus on seasonal ingredients with an ever-changing tasting menu to showcase that every meal is a new beginning.
